


Losing Bets

by Funnytmc



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, How Do I Tag, I mean it's there but unrequited, M/M, Not really McShep, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 16:34:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16876341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Funnytmc/pseuds/Funnytmc
Summary: In which Zelenka ends up very glad he made that bet with Lorne, even though he lost.In fact, especially because he lost.





	Losing Bets

“I need you to peel 5 pounds of potatoes,” Zelenka said, his tone matter of fact, as he leaned into the table, awkwardly hunched over.

“Excuse me?” McKay looked up from his laptop. Zelenka just waited, as if his statement required no explanation. Or if it did, he wasn’t willing to give it without some prodding. “You know I’m not gonna just go along with this. Explain yourself.”

“I lost a bet,” He muttered, glancing at McKay, a bit pained.

“And that means _I_ have to peel 5 pounds of potatoes?” He turned, abandoning his laptop in favor of gesturing teasingly at Zelenka. “Maybe betting worked differently in the Czech Republic or something, but I’m at a loss as to why I have to pay for your mistakes.”

He sighed, “This promises to be much more unpleasant for me than it is for you.”

“I don’t see how,” he crossed his arms. A moment later he gave into curiosity. “Also, you still haven’t told me why, of all things, this bet involved my peeling potatoes.”

“Look, I said that if I lost I would make enough borscht for everyone on Atlantis and I... require assistance. You’re the only one I can ask.” He nestled his head in his arms, which lay crossed on the table.

“Everyone?” Rodney said, his surprise poking through his dismissive tone. Atlantis basically constituted a small army. Though the city was _far_ from capacity the crew compliment was still pretty large. 

“I negotiated it down to enough to fill that one really big soup pot in the mess.” Radek said, though it came out muffled through the blue fabric of his sleeves.

“Still a lot of _borscht_.” Rodney said, disgust in his voice. That particular food reminded him of his ‘exile’ in Russia. “What kind of a bet was it?”

“I’d really rather not talk about it, Rodney,” Radek murmured. He shifted his head to look at Rodney. “Will you help me or not?” He said, his voice now only obscured by dull frustration.

“I— well, why _borscht_?” He waved his hand ineffectually.

“I made the mistake of telling Major Lorne about an old family recipe. It’s actually quite good, but a bit of a pain in the ass to make. Especially in large quantities.” He buried his face deeper in his arms. “Please Rodney.” He mumbled reluctantly.

Rodney seemed to do some calculating. “Not if you won’t even tell me what the stupid bet was.” He stood up, hands on his hips, almost triumphant.

He noticed Radek’s cheeks begin to flush, “fine,” he straightened, pushing himself up off the table defiantly. “You want to know so bad, fine. _Do_ _prdele!_ It was about you and Colonel Sheppard!”

“What about—“ Rodney spread his arms, ready to tease the other man into giving more information. Apparently though, he didn’t need to put in the effort, as he was quickly interrupted.

“Lorne and I had noticed the two of you ogling each other and disagreed on whether either of you would actually ever make a move. I lost. I didn’t think you’d get together. And now I have the displeasure of requiring your assistance in order to play out my punishment for being wrong about your love life.”

“Really? That— _really?_ ” McKay said, in disbelief. “How would you even know who won?”

“You are not as discreet as you like to think, Rodney.” Zelenka said acerbically, raising an eyebrow.

“Discreet? Not like there’s much to be discreet about, not really.” He crossed his arms.

“What do you mean? Are you not— do not get my hopes up that I won’t have to make all that borscht.” He said, trying to sound dry over obvious curiosity.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” He uncrossed his arms, freeing them to wave about, emphasizing his annoyed tone. “But in the interest of full disclosure and maybe avoiding peeling all those potatoes... He kissed me, once. So, if Lorne could be convinced that it was about us ending up a couple or whatever, and not a move being made, I suggest you go talk to him. Right after Sheppard or I get a chance to explain to him how rude it was to make the bet in the first place.”

“You’re not together?” Zelenka said, somewhat contemplative. 

“No,” McKay deflated slightly. “We’re not. And again none of your business.” He said dismissively, sitting back down to type on his computer.

“Why not?” Radek looked at him curiously. His brain had switched to science mode. Everything else evaporated from his mind, Lorne, the bet, the potatoes, and all that was left was a question in Radek’s mind that he couldn’t find the answer to. Something he couldn’t understand. This is why he continued without regard for McKay’s feelings.

“If _he_ kissed you then why would there be a problem? He’s most likely to be repressed due to American military; he’s most likely not to return any feelings. How’d you mess it up?” He pushed up his glasses and looked back at McKay, who’s shoulders were hunched, his expression pained and miserable. It was at this juncture Radek realized what he’d said, or at least how it’d come off.

“You know, maybe you should get together with Heightmeyer. You both have a talent for saying things I don’t wanna hear when it’s obvious I don’t wanna hear them.” He crossed his arms and gave Radek an incredulous look.

“Sorry, I just...” his hand moved to his scruffy hair as he looked down at the floor.

“Look, since you clearly care so much about my love life—“ he rolled his eyes. “Maybe you won’t lay awake tonight wondering how the hell I fucked it up if I tell you... I _didn’t_. Believe it or not we’re not star crossed lovers. _He_ kissed me as an admission of feelings and _I_ told him I didn’t share them. That’s what happened. I was honest because I didn’t wanna feel like I was using him. Ok?”

“Wow,” Radek muttered.

“Can we be done now?”

“Are you straight then?” Zelenka said abruptly.

“’Cause it’d be impossible for me not to be into Sheppard if I like guys? No, not straight. Just cause _‘rakish’_ isn’t my type, doesn’t automatically mean I’m closed off to an entire gender.”

“What is?” Radek said without thinking, his brain still a little locked in science mode.

“What, my type?” He thought a moment and seemed to look Radek up and down.  “It’s not important.” He said quickly going back to typing.

“What do you mean? Why can’t I know? You’ve already made very obvious your type in women, why not in men?” Radek stepped forward, driven by his damn scientific curiosity.

“Just none of your business, that’s all.” His voice seemed to get higher as he straightened his posture.

“You’ve already said that, twice, but it didn’t stop you from telling me then.” Radek stood directly next to Rodney now, leaning into the table, peering at him.

“Radek,” he swallowed. “I have to go now.” He stood up shutting his laptop and shuffled away sideways.

Radek grabbed his arm and chuckled, “why won’t you just tell me?”

Rodney let out a high pitched breathy noise, seemingly not of his own volition. That was odd. Then Radek started to notice small details. The desperate look in Rodney’s eyes, how fast his heart was beating, how heavy his breath had become, how his struggle to take back his arm seemed to be less with Radek and more with himself.

“Oh,” was all Radek could say as realization ebbed through him. Stunned to silence, he dropped Rodney’s arm. After a moment he vacantly said something in Czech. Rodney couldn’t tell if it was an actual attempt to communicate, and Radek was too stunned to remember Rodney didn’t know Czech, or if he was just talking to himself. Still, he was fairly certain he’d been found out.

“I’m sorry,” he said, beginning to move away. “Radek, I don’t know how it happened, I just— I know this is a really bad spot for you to be in. I mean, I’m your boss. We have to work together constantly and I— just, it’s fine, ok? You don’t have to let me down easy. I’ll just continue to bury my feelings like I have been and they’ll go away. I was gonna, you know— make a move I guess, eventually at least. But then Sheppard, and I had to tell him I was into someone else and, he got it out of me. Look, I’m clearly not even on your radar if you’d make a bet on whether I’d end up with John so—“

“Rodney?” Zelenka muttered absently.

“What?”

“I....” Radek said, suddenly in the same state McKay had been in. Heart beating out of his chest, sweaty palms, the works. What Rodney said, as he paced around rambling in his anxious fashion, hit Radek in waves.

Sheppard knows. McKay told him. Was that why he’d been acting weird? They weren’t sneaking around. He got turned down. And found out he’d lost to _Radek_. That was why he couldn’t seem to look him in the eye.

McKay was his boss. Atlantis was so lax he forgot that sometimes. His _boss_ had a crush on him.

Then, Radek suddenly noticed the shivers it sent up and down his spine when Rodney had started rambling. How enamored with it he was, yet how familiar and oddly gratifying it felt. How good his name sounded on Rodney’s lips. _Rodney’s lips_...

The bet. He realized there may have been a subconscious reason for him betting against the relationship. The idea that he’d have been losing something without the bet, so who cared if he needed to make enough borscht to feed an army, crossed his mind.

_‘You don’t have to let me down easy...’_

Once all of it fit into his brain, despite being somewhat jumbled, he said something, “I— you were planning to confess?”

“Yeah, I was going to but—“ Rodney began, in that same rambling tone.

“Maybe you should try...” Radek said a little absently, his desire only just visible in his eyes.

“I can’t.” Rodney whined.

“Why not?” Radek said, genuinely dumbfounded. Rodney squirmed, stalling.

“I know how to say ‘I love you’ in Czech.” Rodney let out abruptly. “The thing is, it would be more accurate to say, ‘I find you quite attractive, and though I wouldn’t say I love you, I have had a crush on you for quite some time but I’ve been too afraid to say anything.’” Rodney was now staring at the floor, rambling on self-deprecatingly. “The thing is I don’t know how to say all that in Czech and I got it in my head that confessing in Czech would be really romantic and now I don’t know what to do ‘cause I don’t wanna come on too strong but, I do wanna... ‘Come on’ and I want you to know I’m serious.” He looked up, prepared to wince at Radek’s reaction. Instead of confirmation of his vague, nebulous worries, he was met with Radek pulling him into a kiss.

He hadn’t seen Radek cross over to where he’d been pacing, but at the moment he really didn’t care. He cared much more about the feel of Radek’s arm around his waist, moving up his back. His other hand, cupping Rodney’s cheek and drifting into the hair on the back of his neck. The sensation of their chests pressed up against each other. And his lips, _god his lips_.

It was then that Radek pulled away, still holding him, seeming to catch his breath. Rodney’s state of mind refused to let him do the same.

Radek’s eyes seemed to sparkle as he began rattling off something in Czech. Within what, to Rodney, may as well have been gibberish, he caught ‘Miluje te’ aka ‘I love you’. Nothing else sounded familiar until Radek ended breathing out “too,” his face smiling softly, warm breath skimming Rodney’s skin.

“I’m sure that was all really great, but like I literally just reminded you, I don’t speak Czech.” He tried to look annoyed but couldn’t help smiling.

“It was what you said you wanted to say to me.” He chuckled breathily.

“Oh, well I’m not gonna be able remember all that.” Rodney muttered.

“I would not expect you to.” He smiled, pulling him into another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> For the Drabble prompt: “I need you to peel 5 pounds of potatoes.” 
> 
> This May have ended up slightly longer than constitutes a Drabble. (I also might be slightly unclear on exactly what Drabble means.) 
> 
> I’m just glad I could keep it short enough for me to actually finish.


End file.
